ContentsDick:Support the Troops?Shea:Hatred and Killing,Support These Troops?Massacre in Afghanistan?With Ears?Psychopaths in the Military at War?The Outrage?Junger:The Pulpit?Ignorant Troops?Education Against Militarism and EmpirePatriotism

Support the Troops?

SUPPORT THE TROOPS? By Dick Bennett

SUPPORT ALL THE TROOPS?

Yes, support the troops.

But not those who pissed on dead Taliban fighters.

Yes, support the troops.

But not those who killed all in the Afghan wedding party.

Yes, support the troops.

But not those who tortured captives in Gitmo and Bahgram.

Yes, support the troops.

But

But

Definition Power (who controls the language controls the people)
The U. S. Constitution grants power to Congress to call out the militia to “suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions.”The Constitution declares our right of national self-defense.But what is the “nation”?Now our leaders include in the US “nation” all its advance bases.And what is “defense of the nation”?US soil has been invaded only three times: War of 1812, PearlyHarbor 1941, and World Trade Center/Pentagon 2001.Yet now “self-defense” is defined as “national security,” and our leaders go to war around the planet—over forty illegal invasions and interventions since 1945 and now “projecting force” through 900 military bases in over 100 countries all part of the US “nation” to be defended.. From D. C. trace your world map westward:Homeland, Pacific, Asia, Europe, Homeland!Attack any base anywhere and you have attacked USA.

Indoctrination Power: Support the TroopsHow our leaders persuaded its populace to believe such an absurd yet massively bellicose and lethal a definition is a dark reality of US history since WWII.The books I mention in this Newsletter significantly add to our understanding of that history.One consequence of the new definition—the unceasing call to “support the troops”-- functions to sustain US wars for the “security” of the “nation” strung out around the globe.The slogan “support the troops” helps to explain how the new disastrous definition has been sustained.It also reveals why the slogan is losing its powerful grip over the public, as the public increasingly questions the “self-defense” claimed for the wars and the legitimacy of the new name in 1947 for the Department of WarThe “support the troops” slogan, while it might be valid in defense of the homeland, has lost its persuasiveness in the defense of all of the advanced US bases scattered over land or sea in the several military jurisdictions into which the planet has been divided by the Department of War—the Department of Conquest and Empire.Consider the logic of our leaders which has undernourished the public for sixty years:The US has the right to invade and intervene in order to defend what? old conquests.Heard that before?Listen to the speeches and the boots of the Roman, British, and Nazi imperial rulers and troops.Of course we want our loved ones and those of our friends and of our countrymen and women to return safe.But as the public learns more about the illegality, immorality, and massive waste of the US wars, the more urgently do we want our loved ones home and the less we support leaders of the wars.For several years the public majority has wanted the troops to leave Afghanistan and Iraq.And as the excuse of “self-defense” for the wars is increasingly found untrustworthy, and as evidence of the subversion of the morality of our troops by war has become more available (we should support all the troops?), even respect for the troops, the imperial instruments of conquest, and the righteousness of the troops in their killing and being killed,.has declined.

A Desperate Defense of EmpireThe constant resort to the slogan, “Support the Troops,” reveals its weakness and the desperation of the imperial rulers.For justifying and continuing US military expansion abroad by appeal for sympathy for the agents of empire, regardless of the brutal, terroristic behavior of some, enlists diminishing conviction.Repeated expressions of gratitude to warriors for risking their lives to preserve US “freedom” and “safety,” when their risk has little to nothing to do with US freedom or safety but much to do with command of world resources, exposes the illusion of the slogan “support the troops.”.Ironical Effect:EmpathyAs the validity of the “defense” rationale for war has declined the public has more keenly recognized the humanity of the “enemy” troops in Afghanistan and Iraq whose families and government similarly cry out “support the troops.”For who are the defenders, who the aggressors?Who is defending what?

TROOPS WITH EARS?LETTER IN ADG FROM AUSTIN STEWART of Judsonia 7-11-11“I saw men wearing American military uniforms who had collected strings of what they said were human ears and toes as combat souvenirs.They kept Them with pride and some even laughed as they told how a human being reacted as his ear was being hacked off.There are many members of law enforcement and the military who truly quality as heroes, but tor the term ‘hero’ to be applied by…to the aforementioned is the equivalent of spitting in the face of our Founding Fathers.”

Apr 22, 2007 – The U.S. military: homicidal psychopaths. From Counterpunch.org: ...all the while claiming legitimacy as "the world's police force" because of our so-called .....U.S. Air Force brutally murders another 40 Afghan ....

How to verify military claims. When a sociopath wants you to believe that he's honorable,...The U.S. ArmyCenter of Military History lists all Congressional Medal of Honor...Distinguished Service Cross, Navy Cross and Air Force Cross. ...sociopath, psychopath, con artist, con man, fraud, con game, sociopathy,...

Jun 24, 2011 – Violence is defined as “is the use of force to kill, injures, or abuses others, ...The five branches of the U.S. Armed Forces – Army, Navy, Air Force,...Not surprisingly, many psychopaths are criminals, but many other...

Jul 26, 2002 – The top secret technologies available to the U.S. military is usually thirty ....In 1996, the US Air Force Scientific Advisory Board published a...Translating the words 'experience set' from military jargon into plain...

The term psychopath conjures up images of movies such as Psycho or Silence of the...Such people who enter the military are not monsters waiting to be released.....During World War II, 40 percent of the US Army Air Forces' air-to -air...

You have to be a certified psychopath to; join the Delta Force", a US Army colonel from...(SOT) is that they do not distinguish between civilian and military oppositions,...Afghanistan and Pakistan through commando raids and air strikes....Special Forces General from the Bush-Cheney era to head the military...

File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - Quick ViewJun 23, 2011 – agency of the United States Government, while such ofﬁcers and...one of the branches of the United States Military, including the Army, Navy, Air Force, ......ABDUL-LATIF said that he was looking for a “psychopath....

May 5, 2011 – Careerism and Psychopathy in the US Military. By G. I. WILSON, USMC Ret....John Boyd of the U.S. Air Force....

Pissing on the Dead Enemy the Outrage?Sebastian Junger.“We're All Guilty of Dehumanizing the Enemy”The Washington Post, RSN, Jan. 14, 2012Junger writes: "As a society, we may be disgusted by seeing U.S. Marines urinating on dead Taliban fighters, but we remain oddly unfazed by the fact that, presumably, those same Marines just put .30 caliber rounds through the fighters' chests. American troops are not blind to this irony." READ MOREhttp://www.readersupportednews.org/opinion2/268-35/9430-were-all-guilty-of-dehumanizing-the-enemyThis essay is very like Marlantes’ book, What Is It Like to Go to War?

THE KILLING AND THE PULPIT“They Died in Vain; Deal With It “Posted by: "Dave" mplsstreetrwy@earthlink.netmplsstreetrwy Fri Aug 19, 2011 10:55 am (PDT) However well meaning their intentions, the preachers' negligence andtimidity in confronting basic war issues merely help to perpetuateunnecessary killing. It is high time to hold preachers accountable.Ray McGovern , Common DreamsMany of those preaching at American church services Sunday (August 7)extolled as "heroes" the 30 American and 8 Afghan troops killedSaturday west of Kabul, when a helicopter on a night mission crashed,apparently after taking fire from Taliban forces. This week, theFawning Corporate Media (FCM) can be expected to beat a steady drumbeatof "they shall not have died in vain."

But they did. I know it is a hard truth, but they did die in vain.As in the past, churches across the country will keep praising thefallen troops for protecting "our way of life," and few candemur, given the tragic circumstances.But, sadly, such accolades are, at best, misguided — at worst,dishonest. Most preachers do not have a clue as to what U.S. forces aredoing in Afghanistan and why. Many prefer not to think about it. Thereare some who do know better, but virtually all in that categoryeventually opt to punt.More... http://evergreenedigest.org/they-died-vain-deal-it

IGNORANT TROOPS?

“…in 2006, half of all Americans, according to a Harris poll, still believed Saddam had WMD when the invasion began, and 85 percent of American troops stationed in Iraq, according to a Zogby poll, believed the U.S. mission there was mainly ‘to retaliate for Saddam’s role in the 9-11 attacks.’”

Source

Engelhardt, Tom.The American Way of Wars. 2010.

SUPPORT THE TROOPS BY EDUCATING YOUTH ABOUT THE CAUSES AND THE CONSEQUENCES AND THE ALTERNATIVES TO US WARS

--Paul Buchheit, ed.American Wars: Illusions and Realities.Clarity P,2008.Nineteen illusions used to justify US wars refuted.Swanson and Buchheit and all of these books reinforce each other.Rev. Peace and Change (July 2011): “excellent offerings.”

--James Carroll.House of War: The Pentagon and the Disastrous Rise of American Power.Houghton Mifflin, 2006.The best examination of the Pentagon ever written.I have an extra copy if you wish to borrow.

-- Nicolas Davies.Blood on Our Hands: The American Invasion and Destruction of Iraq.Nimble, 2010.US leaders’ deceptions that led the nation to mass killing and maiming, and the book on US violations of International law during our “humanitarian” invasion and occupation of Iraq.

--Richard Rubenstein.Reasons to Kill: Why Americans Choose War.Bloomsbury, 2011.Seven rationales used by our government to initiate wars and the conflict resolution principles and methods essential to preventing wars.

--Ignatieff, Michael, ed. American Exceptionalism and Human Rights. Princton UP, 2005. US disregard of international laws for US advantage.

--Kinzer, Stephen. Overthrow: America's Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq. Times Books, 2006.

--Mann, James. Rise of the Vulcans: The History of Bush's War Cabinet. Viking, 2004.

--Quigley, John.The Ruses for War: American Interventionism Since World War II.Prometheus, 1992.

---Solomon, Norman.War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death.Wiley, 2005.

X--Edward Wood, Jr., Worshipping the Myths of World War II: Reflections on America’s Dedication to War.Potomac, 2006.

--Worth, Roland Jr.No Choice But War: The United States Embargo Against Japan and the Eruption of War in the Pacific.McFarland, 1995.Makes a convincing case of equal blame for the colonial WWII Pacific.

PATRIOTISMWoehrle, Lynne, et al.Contesting Patriotism: Culture, Power, and Strategy in the Peace Movement.Roman & Littlefield, 2009.Rev. Fellowship (Spring 2010).A deep grounding of the peace movement is its effort to reclaim the attribution of “patriotic” for criticism of the nation-state when it wages war.The book traces the many ways “in which major groups in the peace movement have advanced this cause in their publications over the past 20 years.”

The function of military basic training is to reverse one’s lifetime respect for law and rejection of killing.“’Survive and kill.That’s what it’s all about,’ said Lt. Col. Dave Bellon, commander of troops training at CampRobinson. ADG (6-28-06).

False identification of Government with Country

“In celebration of the 4th of July there will be many speeches about the young people who "died for their country." Let's be honest about war. Those who gave their lives did not die for their country, as they were led to believe but for their government. The distinction between country and government is at the heart of the Declaration of Independence, which will be referred to again and again on July 4, but without attention to its meaning.” Howard Zinn

FIRST INVASION OF IRAQ 1991 AND EMBARGO

A.Another Air War by the USAgainst Civilians

WWII, Korean War, Vietnam War, Libya, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Grenada, Panama, Iraq 1990: the US has made it routine to bomb civilian targets in opposition to international laws.The deaths of civilians in WWI was approx. 10% of total casualties; in WWII 50%; in Vietnam War 85%.With economic sanctions almost 100% of the victims are civilians.

B.Air Warfare Violates International Laws

US air warfare is international terrorism as defined by the US legal code (Title 18’2331): involve violent acts or acts dangerous to human life that are a violation of the criminal laws of the US or of any State, etc.

C.Embargo Also Against Lives of Civilians

Surgery is frequently carried out without anesthetics, and antibiotics are also scarce to unavailable.Scanners, X-ray machinery, and incubators lie idle for want of spare parts.Cancers have risen fivefold since the Gulf War.According to the World Health Organization, in 1989 Iraq offered 92% access to clean water and high-quality healthcare, along with high nutritional standards.By 1997 1,211,285 children had died of embargo-related causes, according to UNICEF, a figure comparable to Pol Pot’s genocide in Cambodia. Mothers are too malnourished to breastfeed and unable to afford milk power (a tin exceeds a doctor’s monthly salary).

D.Embargo Caused Enormous Shortages of All Kinds and Inflation

The per capita income of Iraq has declined from almost $3000 to $60 a year.The price of wheat flour in 1995 was 11,677 times higher than in 1990.Knowledge is embargoed: medical journals are not allowed, or pencils, erasers, exercise books.Shroud cloth for burials andfilm to remember their dead children by are prohibited.And toys, children’s bikes, shoelaces, sanitary towels.

Economic Sanctions Violate International Laws

Protocol I Additional to the Geneva Convention, 1977, Part IV, Section I, Chapter III, Article 54: 1. Starvation of civilians as a method of warfare is prohibited.

E.The Future for Iraq’s People is Threatened

According to the UN, rebuilding the health infrastructure and other civilian needs would require $22 billion a year. The Bush Admin. budgeted??. but diverted most of that money to the war.

F.Who is the international criminal?

Amnesty International estimatesthat Hussein’s regime killed 130,000 people between 1979 and 1989.The sanctions have killed more than 10 times that number.UNICEF estimated that 500,000 children died as the direct result of the Gulf War invasion and subsequent embargo.Who has violated the Genocide Convention more?And compare Iraq to Israel.Israel occupies territory illegally, violates Geneva conventions, conducts terrorist assassinations and invasions, secretly built an atomic arsenal, imprisons the scientist who exposed it, employs spies to steal US secrets, yet Iraq and not Israel is labeled a “rogue” state.Is Iraq more dangerous than any of the other nuclear states—than Pakistan? India?

G.And who the hypocrite?

The US is the only country to have dropped a nuclear bomb on humans, and they were mainly civilians.The US is the largest stockpiler of weapons of mass destruction.And during the past 50 years it has supported some of the most atrocious dictators in the world.Yet its harsh treatment of this one atrocious dictator exceeds anything ever seen in US history.

H.The World (except the United Kingdom) Opposed US Bombings and Sanctions

In Dec. 1997 the Cairo Declaration to Save the Children of Iraq and ban economic blockades as weapons of mass destruction collected 18 million signatures in Europe and the Middle East, the world’s largest petition.

SECOND INVASION OF IRAQ 2003

MASS KILLING OF CIVILIANS

Some estimates give 130,000 civilians killed since the invasion.The U.S. government—and none of the occupying forces-- keeps statistics on the civilians killed by our troops and by other causes.See Collateral Damage: America’s War Against Iraqi Civilians by Chris Hedges and Laila Al-Arian, and The Deaths of Others: The Fate of Civilians in America’s Wars.

EVEN LARGER MASS KILLING OF ANIMALS

We can only guess at this extermination, since invading and occupying governments disregard them completely. The horrors of mass killings of humans are so great, even the environmental organizations are largely silent about the torture and killing of animals.

DESTRUCTION OF THE LAND

As with animals, the blind callousness of Bush et al. prevents any consideration of the devastated earth, which will continue for decades from unexploded bombs, and for decades more from the “depleted” uranium.See The Green Zone: The Environmental Costs of Militarism by Barry Sanders.

TORTURE

The torture of Iraqis drastically undermined the morality not only of US military, Presidency, and Congress,but of the populace that allowed it.See Torture Team: Rumsfeld’s Memo and the Betrayal of American Values by Philippe Sands.

CULTURAL DESTRUCTION

Here is one example:According to a BritishMuseum report, the ancient city of Babylon, one of the world’s most important archaeological sites and dating back to the time of Nebuchadnezzar, was substantially damaged by the invasion and occupation.Despite objections from archaeologists, some 2000 U. S. and Polish Forces have used the city as a military depot for the past two years.Examples of destruction are: military vehicles crushed a 2,600-year-old brick pavement; vast amounts of earth mixed with archaeological fragments were dug up for sandbags; and large areas of the site was covered in gravel brought in from the outside, compacted and chemically treated to provide parking and storage areas.All of this violated the Hague convention requiring occupying forces to protect major archaeological sites.

INTENSIFICATION OF MILITARISM

The military and surveillance functions of government have been vastly expanded.Nothing now equals military expenditures in extent, with a budget of $500 billion for 2006-07 alone.The Pentagon conditions all aspects of life in the U.S.We are not merely the military-industrial complex, but the MILITARY-corporate-White House-Congressional-Mainstream Media Complex.And the President is now Commander-in-Chief, not only for invasions, but for controlling the U. S. public by increasingly secret and pervasive surveillance of the people.See The Sorrows of Empire: Militarism, Secrecy, and the End of the Republic by Chalmers Johnson (and the other books of Johnson’s “Blowback” series).

EXTREME EXPANSION OFGOVERNMENT

The GOP has traditionally opposed big government, but under the Republicans the government has enlarged exponentially, particularly for violence, global aggression, and domestic repression(rationalized as “national security” expenditures).See: Top Secret America: The Rise of the New AmericanSecurityState.

EXTREME EXPANSION OF NATIONAL DEBT, RUINOUS DEFICIT SPENDING AND DEBT

The US deficit continues to skyrocket, building a massive debt for future generations of US public.

Clinton left the federal government with a budget surplus of $237 billion.We now face a deficit of over $400 billion.This is not for welfare, for which the Republicans always blamed the Democrats, but for the military.The total cost of the 2nd Iraq War will cost $1 trillion to $2 trillion, if we include the Pentagon (the pig of pigs), the Dept. of Homeland Security, The NSA, the CIA, the FBI, the NationalCounterterrorismCenter, and many more agencies.See The Trillion Dollar War by Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes.

UNDERMINED DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL LAW (Geneva Conventions)

Illegal detentions, “renderings,” torture.See above: Torture.See Blood on Our Hands: The American Invasion and Destruction of Iraq by Nicolas Davies.

ALIENATED US FROM WORLD COMMUNITY

Most countries of the world oppose unilateral US militarism and imperialism.Iraq, and the US , need support from the international community.But the US chose unilateral wars and occupations, permanent war.See Washington Rules: America’s Path to Permanent War by Andrew Bacevich, The American Way of War: How Bush’s Wars Became Obama’s by Tom Engelhardt.

INCREASED TERRORISMAGAINST US

Bush Admin. aggressions abroad and repression at home have earned our nation widespread hatred and contempt,not only from Islamic nations butfrom former allies.“The U. S. occupation is a catalyst for violence.The longer the U. S. occupation continues, the more Iraqis will join the resistance, which primarily opposes the foreign presence.Conservaztie estimates say the number of resistance fighters in Iraq increased from 5,000 in Nov. 2003 to 20,000 in Nov. 2006.”AFSC

DIVIDED THE COUNTRY AND ENCOURAGED CIVIL WAR

The occupation deepens tensions within Iraq.The US made several major mistakes: 1) disbanded the Iraqi army and police while unprepared to take their place, 2)failed to dismantle the militias, 3) supported Shi’a desire for regional autonomy.

DESTABILIZES THE MIDDLE EAST

The invasion and occupation has undermined relations with other Middle East governments, even former allies, and US aggression has galvanized militants throughout the region to join the insurrection in Iraq and attack other countries, such as Jordan.

OCCUPATION INIMICAL TO DEMOCRACY

The Japanese democracy grew under U.S. occupation, but the conditions in Iraq are dissimilar and not conducive to the democratic system.

IRAQ NOT RECONSTRUCTED AND REPAIRED

1991 invasion, 12 years of bombings and sanctions, 2003 invasion, and the occupation have devastated Iraq’s infrastructure and its population.Water and sewage treatment, electricity, health care are severely crippled.The US has not rebuilt and restored what it has damaged.While it has spent some $300 billion fighting, it has not spent half of the $18 billion originally allocat4d for reconstruction.See We Meant Well: How I Helped Lose the Battle for the Hearts and Minds of the Iraqi People by Peter Van Buren.

IRAQI RECONSTRUCTIONCONTRACTS GIVEN TO US COMPANIES

Awarding major contracts to U.S. corporations creates little benefit to Iraqis, while Iraqis need jobs.

THE DESTRUCTIVE, FUTILE WAR WASTES MONEY AND RESOURCES NEEDED AT HOME

Funds are being cut on all levels in the US for schools, libraries, hospitals, transportation, the environment, preparing for climate change.

USE OF NATIONAL GUARD TROOPS LEAVE STATES SHORTHANDED

When disasters strike, as with Hurricane Katrina, states are unable to respond as needed

CONFUSION OF HUMANITARIAN AID AND MILITARY

Blurring lines between the military and aid efforts has caused almost all NGOs and UN agencies to leave Iraq.On the humanitarian excuse for invading or intervening in another country, see Humanitarian Imperialism: Using Human Rights to Sell War by Jean Bricmont.

REFERENCES

Ehrenreich, Barbara.“Bush’s Bloat,” The Progressive (June 2006).

Pemberton, Miriam and William Hartung.Lessons from Iraq: Avoiding the Next War.2008.

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